DAVID MCKEOWN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Tom Twardzik, left, Ateeco president, Georgine Miley, Ateeco regional food service manager, and Nikole Meckley, Ateeco national food service sales manager, talk Monday about bringing Mrs T’s pierogies to Long John Silver’s at the Long John Silver’s in Pottsville.

CRESSONA — Long John Silver’s and Ateeco Inc. joined forces during February and March to serve Mrs. T’s Pierogies in 23 restaurants, and that partnership is causing many customers to smile.

This is the first time that Ateeco and a national restaurant chain have agreed to serve the famous pasta pockets from Shenandoah. The limited-time offer arrangement was to have the Classic Cheddar variety of mini-pierogies until March 31. According to LJS Area Operations Manager Tracey McKee, today would see more than 100,000 pierogies served since the first day.

The story goes back to late 2017 when LJS acting restaurant manager and shift leader Carrie Valentine at the Hazleton location contacted Ateeco’s Consumer Care Department with her idea about getting Mrs. T’s into the restaurant. Ateeco’s National Food Service Manager Nikole Meckley responded to the inquiry and began working with Mindy Miller, who is the director of operations for Cross Country Venture, which has the franchise for 14 of the restaurants. The other nine are corporately owned.

In December, Meckley and Miller began working together to determine how to best prepare, hold and serve pierogies within the LJS system. They received approval of LJS corporate, set up the distribution process and produced the necessary marketing materials to support the initiative.

Miller said getting the pierogies into the menu flow was not very difficult, especially with Ateeco’s assistance.

“It was pretty simple with Mrs. T’s marketing team,” Miller said. “They took some fantastic photos of the finished product for us. They then made up the POP (point of purchase) that suited our interior and exterior menu boards, and our counter mats. We just added that to the flow of what we already do. It was very visible to the customer in the very simple flow that our customers are used to.”

Meckley said the response to the arrangement has Ateeco employees thrilled with the opportunity.

“It’s been absolutely fantastic,” Meckley said. “Within the company, we’ve all been so excited. They (LJS) have been wonderful to work with. We’ve been very accessible with each other in order to meet each other’s needs along the way. The process began in late December, so it was a quick turnaround to get everything all set and running, and everyone throughout our company could not be more excited for this opportunity to have this exposure.”

Due to the popularity shown by customers during the limited-time offer, there is a chance that Mrs. T’s Pierogies could eventually become a permanent part of the menu.

“That’s very probable,” Miller said. “A lot of our customer feedback that we’re seeing around the pierogies is that we hope you keep this. We do listen to the voice of the customer, which is obviously the most important with running a business. They are certainly loving the product and many are requesting that we do keep them.”

The mini-pierogies are sold as a side item. The individual side of four mini-pierogies is $1.69, and the family size of 13 is $4.39.

Katherine McCabe, 10, of Pottsville, enjoyed a small side of mini-pierogies and was all smiles.

“This is my first time eating them here,” McCabe said. “It was really good.”

Twardzik gave credit to the food service team that made it all happen.

“We’ve had experience with some regional restaurants, but we’ve never been successful for a national chain like this,” Twardzik said. “It’s very exciting for us. They have signs outside so there is awareness and exposure for pierogies. Then when you come in, every exposure that I’ve seen so far is that the people at the counter telling people that there are pierogies on the menu, so that’s an introduction to the people.”

Meckley said there are employees wearing “Pierogy Squad” T-shirts that adds to getting people to know pierogies are available.

“Our mission is to make you smile when you hear our name, and it has brought a lot of smiles, which has been fun,” Meckley said.

“I’m very impressed with the training that the staff has had.” Twardzik said. “The associates have been so positive and friendly consistently. They’ve embraced it. They are receptive to the idea of being those ambassadors and being very enthusiastic.”

As for the success, Meckley said that the Cressona location had ordered what they believed would be enough mini-pierogies for February and March.

“They ran out by Ash Wednesday, before the start of Lent,” Meckley said.

“The idea that we would exceed their expectations is huge,” Twardzik said.

“We do the best we can,” Miley said. “It’s very, very exciting. We’re looking to see where it goes.”

McKee said the popularity of serving pierogies has been seen in many locations, such as in Lancaster, where she was on Saturday.

“The customers there actually stopped me and told me that this was the best thing that we ever did, because we really don’t like french fries,” McKee said, explaining that pierogies provide a great alternative for those who do not eat french fries as a side.

McKee said the Cressona location did the best job with sampling to get people introduced to the new menu item. She added that there is a contest among the restaurants on who can serve the most pierogies.

“The store that sells the most pierogies will get a prize so the store can have a little party,” McKee said.

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